Episode 668: The Growth Mindset Shift – How Failure Leads to Success with Donnie Lygonis

EBT668 – Donnie Lygonis

Intro 00:00

Food bloggers. Hi, how are you today? Thank you so much for tuning in to the Eat Blog Talk podcast. This is the place for food bloggers to get information and inspiration to accelerate your blog’s growth, and ultimately help you to achieve your freedom. Whether that’s financial, personal, or professional. I’m Megan Porta. I have been a food blogger for 13 years, so I understand how isolating food blogging can be. I’m on a mission to motivate, inspire, and most importantly, let each and every food blogger, including you, know that you are heard and supported. 

[ 00:00:37 ]   Megan Porta

Every once in a while I record an interview where I leave just feeling so filled up with my mindset and emotionally and just ready to tackle my business in a new way. And that is definitely the case for this interview with Donnie Lygonis, who is an innovation strategist and business coach. He brought the value to the table inside of this episode.

[ 00:01:04 ]   

He talks about everything. Growth, mindset, why it’s important not just for you as a human, but why it’s important for your business. We talk about how to set yourself up for success and actually how to deal with failure is a huge piece of that. We also talk about embracing change and how important that is for you and your business.

[ 00:01:25 ]   

Also, building resilience through building meaningful connections with people in your network, your peers that are around you, and how to celebrate the journey and just take a step back and see what you’ve built and appreciate it once in a while. There’s so much more packed into the episode. I really hope you love this one.

[ 00:01:44 ]   

It is encouraging, it’s motivating, it’s inspiring and I absolutely loved what Donnie brought to this episode. This is episode number 668.

[ 00:01:56 ] Sponsor   

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[ 00:02:20 ]   

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[ 00:02:35 ]   

Donnie Lygonis is an Innovation Strategist and Business Coach at KTH Innovation, the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, where he has been helping researchers and students for over 14 years. Turning their ideas and results into viable products and services. He enjoys working hands on with Exponential technologies and collaborating with individuals who have world changing and world saving ideas. 

His latest venture is Mellanmål Inc. A US based company focused on bringing Swedish better for you and the planet food products to America. Hello Donnie, welcome to the podcast. How are you on the other side of the world?

[ 00:03:15 ]  Donnie Lygonis 

I’m fine. It’s heading into evening here at Stockholm, but I’m great. It’s great. Fantastic.

[ 00:03:20 ]  Megan Porta 

Are you born and raised Stockholm?

[ 00:03:22 ]  Donnie Lygonis 

No, I’m not. I’m a very European. I have a Greek father that left Greece and went to England where he met my British mother. And then they left England, spent five years on the Faroe Islands which is in the middle of the Atlantic. A tiny, tiny group of islands. And that’s where I was born.

[ 00:03:40 ]   

And then they moved into Norway where I was, I spent my first four or five years and then to Sweden as a seven year old. So I’ve been in Sweden since I was seven year old.

[ 00:03:49 ]  Megan Porta 

Wow. Okay, so should we all visit Sweden? Is it the most amazing place on earth like I’ve heard?

[ 00:03:56 ]  Donnie Lygonis 

Yes.

[ 00:03:58 ]  Megan Porta 

Okay. In a nutshell, yes. Come visit.

[ 00:04:02 ]  Donnie Lygonis 

It’s the funny thing is because it is the actually the land of opportunity. Well, the Nordics, Sweden, Denmark and Finland. Norway of course as well. I mean they totally. The land of opportunity because since everything is tax, finance, school is free, healthcare is free, you know, you can be anybody can become anything actually, no matter who you are and where you’re from.

[ 00:04:26 ]   

I mean you can become a professor. There’s no, there’s no tuition fees in the universities, there’s no healthcare is free. I mean the joke was they had a one liner strip about this. What was this TV show? Breaking Bad. You know the guy that the chemistry teacher that turns into a meth person.

[ 00:04:42 ]   

And then the strip was like if Breaking Bad was in Sweden. The first sequence is my wife’s got cancer and the doctor says treatment starts tomorrow, it’s all free. End of series, all done.

[ 00:04:55 ]  Megan Porta 

No need to continue.

[ 00:04:57 ]  Donnie Lygonis 

So anyway, yeah.

[ 00:04:58 ]  Megan Porta 

Oh that’s great. Okay, well I’ll. It’s on my list. I have to go there soon and visit this amazing place that I’ve heard about. So we are going to talk today just about growth, mindset and setting yourself up for success in business. You have all of these things that you love chatting about.

[ 00:05:17 ]   

Before we get into all of that though, do you have a fun fact to share with my listeners?

[ 00:05:21 ]  Donnie Lygonis 

You mean apart from being born on the Faroe Islands amidst a whale hunting, and that’s a cool one. And, and the whole. Yeah, I mean, that’s, it’s been a, so far, it’s been a wild ride of a life of crazy, crazy fun facts. I mean, I, I work at the university. I’ve been a year entrepreneur for 35 years.

[ 00:05:42 ]   

I, I played in a rock band for 20 years and been a fitness instructor for 25 years. And you know. Yeah, I mean, I went to, I went to the, I don’t want to call in English, you know, the people who check your ears when you start losing your, your hearing. And he said, you know, your hearing isn’t all that good.

[ 00:05:57 ]   

Can you think of anything you might have done to have affected your hearing? And I said, well, I was in, I was in the army engineers blowing things up for 10 years. Does that count? I said, yeah. And then I was the fitness instructor in actually, you know, a gym. Very high music.

[ 00:06:10 ]   

Does that count? I said, yeah, I was in a rock band as well, playing the bass guitar, standing beside the drums for 20 years. Does that count? I said, you know what, I’m surprised you hear anything at all. This is amazing.

[ 00:06:22 ]  Megan Porta 

You’re like, yes, all of the above. Now count your blessings.

[ 00:06:26 ]  Donnie Lygonis 

All the way above. Check all, all the boxes. Yeah.

[ 00:06:29 ]  Megan Porta 

So, yeah. Wow, that’s so cool. Yeah, lots of cool things to learn about you right there. So thank you for sharing that. I appreciate you indulging me and us in the fun fact. So, Donnie, tell us a little bit about, like, what you do. So I know you’re, you’re a strategist and a business coach.

[ 00:06:46 ]   

Just give us the scoop on Donnie.

[ 00:06:48 ]  Donnie Lygonis 

Yeah, well, the short version is I work at the biggest tech university in Sweden, KTH, which is the Royal Institute of Technology, and at the Innovation Support office where I work. I’ve been here for 16 years, so I helped build this department. So we’re now 20 people that work full time helping students and researchers at the university realize their ideas.

[ 00:07:08 ]   

So they come to us and say, hey, I have an idea. And then we help them go from that to, well, you know, launching it. So it’s from idea to market, from inception to transactions. So that’s what I do here. So I meet people, very smart boys and girls and men and women that have really, really cool ideas to.

[ 00:07:28 ]   

And then we help them realize them in any way that they need help with, actually. And again, it’s all for free. We don’t take in equity, we don’t charge any money. And it’s, you know, it’s, it’s Magic. It is magic. And I get to work with people who actually have ideas that have the potential of saving the world.

[ 00:07:48 ]  Megan Porta 

Yeah, I was going to ask you. What, what kinds of ideas are we talking? Just like to launch a business or.

[ 00:07:56 ]  Donnie Lygonis 

I mean, we work with 400 new projects per year, so it’s like anything. And we’re a very wide university. It’s okay. So it’s, it’s, it’s tech and engineering, but it’s everything from architects to nuclear scientists to food tech, which is. Food is a huge thing here. One of the strategic research areas is food.

[ 00:08:16 ]   

So we’re getting a lot of food ideas and food startups as well, from. Mostly from. From students, but also more of the, like, biochemistry part from the researchers. So we’re seeing a lot of food as well, and energy transport. I mean, it’s the, the whole. Everything from an app to, you know, whatever, buy something quicker, whatever consumer thing, to an actual nuclear reactor.

[ 00:08:41 ]   

I mean, it’s everything.

[ 00:08:43 ]  Megan Porta 

So you see it all. You’ve seen a lot of ideas come.

[ 00:08:47 ]  Donnie Lygonis 

I won’t say I’ve seen it all because obviously every day somebody comes in with something I’ve never seen before, which is also an interesting aspect of my job, is that every day somebody comes into my office and challenges my perception of reality. It challenges the way I think things have to be done.

[ 00:09:05 ]   

And they say, hey, I’ve come up with a new way of doing this. So I have to sort of recalibrate my brain every day to understand that what I thought was true yesterday isn’t true tomorrow because somebody’s actually proven and showed me a new way of doing something. So that has also influenced my mindset a lot when it comes to entrepreneurship as well.

[ 00:09:24 ]   

And what we’re talking about today is I don’t talk about, you know, setting yourself up for success. I’d rather talk about set yourself up for failure because you’re going to. I mean, getting to any kind of successful goal or target, whatever, is a series of attempts that will not work. My personal own.

[ 00:09:44 ]   

I won’t call it the quote, but my own personal favorite. Well, they’ll call the quote. We can use it to quote later on. Is that. I mean, I get the question because I start stuff all the time myself as well. I mean, other people have like, gardens or pets, but I don’t. So I know, what’s a guy gonna do, right?

[ 00:10:01 ]   

So I start companies and then so people ask me, but aren’t you afraid of failing? I mean, aren’t you afraid of trying something that might not work, and then you fail. And I just say, you know, well, since I haven’t stopped trying yet, I haven’t failed yet. So. And in my world, it’s all about, you know, as long as you don’t give up, as long as you don’t stop trying, you haven’t failed.

[ 00:10:24 ]   

The only failure is when you fail yourself and say, no, I don’t want to do this anymore, or I can’t do it, or, you know, that’s, you know. But then that doesn’t have to be failure. If you stop, that might be a success in itself. But, you know, we have the wrong idea of failing and succeeding.

[ 00:10:41 ]   

And most people that I know that have, well, in quotes, succeeded, they feel kind of empty and they sort of. So what do I chase now? And success isn’t. They realize that success isn’t an end goal because it never ends. And the most unhappy people I know are the richest people I know because they feel that they can never become rich enough.

[ 00:11:01 ]   

So they’re chasing, but they’re chasing the wrong thing. I mean, that’s not successful. Being rich isn’t successful in my eyes. And that’s also the coming back to the mindset how you work with what you’re working with and how you set yourself up for working with it is, you know, what are you actually chasing?

[ 00:11:17 ]   

What are you actually looking for? When. Because if you. If you look up, you say, well, I’ll be successful when I reach this pinnacle. Right. Which is, of course, great to celebrate. You know, you need to celebrate your wins along the way. But you also have to realize that even though you reach a plateau, you need to understand that, you know, what is that?

[ 00:11:37 ]   

When will it be enough? What is that? You know, what does that mean? So I think that the whole. And for me, it’s not a. It’s like a lifelong learning thing. You know, I’m not sort of. I’m going to work until I reach this, and then I’m done. Yeah, but. And then what kind of thing, you know.

[ 00:11:53 ]  Megan Porta 

Yeah, I love that perspective of failure. I think a lot of entrepreneurs can get caught up in believing that failure is the end or it’s bad, but when you can grasp that concept of no, it’s actually just leading you to the next step. You have such a different perspective in your business. I am so curious to ask you this.

[ 00:12:17 ]   

What is your personal definition of success?

[ 00:12:21 ]  Donnie Lygonis 

That’s a really, really good question. I think that. I mean, for me then, in this job, success is when I see other people reaching some kind of goal or some kind of, well, call it a plateau, whatever that we’ve sort of helped them get to. Success for me is also being a, you know, a small part of a big machine and knowing that I’ve helped something come to life that is doing a good thing out there.

[ 00:12:53 ]   

Success for me is giving talks to high schoolers about KTH innovation, work on impact. And then seven years later, which has actually happened twice now, there’s a knock on my door and there’s a young person standing there and said, you gave a talk in my classroom seven years ago and now I’m here and now I need your help.

[ 00:13:15 ]   

Wow, that’s success for me.

[ 00:13:17 ]  Megan Porta 

Yeah, that is so much more meaningful than, like you said earlier, the amount of money you make. Right. There’s different ways to measure success. I love that.

[ 00:13:27 ]  Donnie Lygonis 

I think, I think it’s important, I think it’s important to work with yourself and actually look at, talk to yourself and say, well, what actually makes me feel happy and what makes me feel in a. Well, let’s call it successful then. Because if we, if we measure it with, if we only measure it with external things like money or status or something, you know, when we actually reach that, then it’s both a struggle to keep it, but it’s also, yeah, but and then what?

[ 00:13:57 ]   

And in most people I know that do get to that point, they aren’t very happy actually, because there’s no, you know, there’s no, there’s no inner development. There’s no actually no meaningfulness. I mean, that’s why we see all of these cutthroat business people, entrepreneurs that when once they become ultra rich, then they go all soft and cushy and start doing charity and trying saving the world.

[ 00:14:24 ]   

And I’m going, yeah, well, that’s okay to say that now, but what about the last 20 years when you were killing people to get there, you know, you weren’t very nice person and now suddenly you’ve gone all, you know. So anyway, I think it’s important to speak to yourself and have that dialogue of, of, you know, what is important for you and what do you actually feel?

[ 00:14:45 ]   

I won’t say content, but you know, what, what will make you happy? I mean, what will make you feel. I mean, there’s so many, so many quotes about this. I mean, one of my favorite ones is again coming doing quotes of old people that wrote books. But you know, the Viktor Frankl and psychologist who wrote about the meaning, you know, meaning of life and any of the, the meaning of life is not to ask life, hey, life, what’s the meaning with my life?

[ 00:15:11 ]   

The meaning of life is that life asks you in every moment, donny, what is the meaning with your life? What do you want to fill it with? And that’s, you know, that’s what we need to work with. And the only thing I can say, I mean, as I talked about trying, I mean, and I know it sounds super cheesy, but the thing is, the only thing I want is when. When I get to the point where I am not going to be anymore, which we all do. I mean, it’s. It’s not if it was when and how. I just hope I can, you know, I can look myself in a mirror and say, well, you know what? At least I tried. That’s for me. That is what, you know. Yeah.

[ 00:15:50 ]  Megan Porta 

Yeah. That’s what’s important. Yeah. And success is different for everyone. Right? There’s no cut and dried answer for every human in the universe. It depends on what your goals are and what your passions are and your own challenges, which I love. I love that it’s so unique to every individual. Nobody can answer that as a blanket statement.

[ 00:16:12 ]   

And if you are, you’re probably not being honest with yourself.

[ 00:16:15 ]  Donnie Lygonis 

But then, of course, I didn’t, you know, and this has to be said with, you know, with reservation for. I’m saying this from a place in the universe where I am, you know, one of the luckiest people on earth because I live in a society where most things work. We have both running water and electricity, and everything is paid for and everything works.

[ 00:16:34 ]   

So I’m coming from that. When I’m talking about, you know, I’m kind of high up on the Maslow pyramid when I’m talking about success and the feeling of, you know, self fulfillment and things like that. But for other people, it’s like, you know, if I can provide for my family and my kids and they can grow up in a safe environment and go to school and become good people, that’s success.

[ 00:16:55 ]   

If I can pay my mortgages and just have a house, that’s success. And then there’s, of course, you know, degrees of that depending on how big a house you want.

[ 00:17:04 ]  Megan Porta 

Yeah, sure.

[ 00:17:05 ]  Donnie Lygonis 

There’s always different ways of measuring, you know, kind of. But, you know, if you look at the Maslow’s, you know, pyramid of needs, you know, getting the bottom parts filled is, of course, very, very important, and many people struggle with that. So that for them, I fully, fully, fully understand that, you know, success is, you know, just managing to make things make ends meet as well.

[ 00:17:28 ]  Megan Porta 

Right? How does embracing change factor into this? Just having that ability to see the things that you’re seeing right now, like having a home is success, and having my kids go to school and get educated, that’s successful. Do you think that being a person who can accept life’s challenges and embrace change is important?

[ 00:17:52 ]  Donnie Lygonis 

Yes, I think. I mean, that. I think that is one of the biggest sometimes. And I mean, sometimes I’m not. And again, you know, I. I would never, ever, ever. I know. I mean, everybody has their own life, and everybody has their own struggle, and everybody has their own, you know, personal demons to work with.

[ 00:18:10 ]   

But very many people I know that I meet all around the world, I always meet someone who seems to be, you know, always complaining about mostly everything around them. Right. And sometimes when I hear people say. And they go sort of, do you know what happened to me? And this. And this happened to me, and it always happens only to me. And why am I the only one? And I’m sort of, you know what? Welcome to life. You’re just. You’ve just experienced life like we all do. It’s just that most of us are kind of preoccupied with making things work. So we don’t even have the time to regard everything that goes wrong, because that’s what kind of life is. You know, life is. Life is kind of navigating a chaotic whatever in a terribly whatever. It’s chaos. And I think that having a mindset where you not saying, expect the worst, I’m not saying that.

[ 00:19:02 ]   

Don’t be sort of dystopic like that. But you have to understand that life will always be throwing you curveballs. And that’s part of the whole. That’s part of the game. And you just have to adopt a mindset to how do I, you know, how do I. How do I bounce back? Because you’ll get hit, right?

[ 00:19:22 ]   

It’s always like that. So adopting a mindset of how do I bounce back and if I’ve tried something in a certain way and doesn’t work, how do I change it? Because obviously what you’re doing isn’t working. I mean, this is. I mean, this is. We could do an analogy with, like, marketing and sales.

[ 00:19:38 ]   

So people, you have this company and they’re selling something, and they’re selling and selling and selling and selling, and they’re still not getting the sales in. And I’m saying, yeah, well, if you just do more of the same thing, you might not just get more sales in, because obviously what you’re doing now isn’t working.

[ 00:19:55 ]   

So you have to take a step back and figure out, well, how do we do it differently? You know, so having the. And being able again in the entrepreneurial mindset of being, of pivoting, learning, listening, understanding, and then pivoting to try and find something that works, is it like it’s a constant thing?

[ 00:20:14 ]   

You know, it’s an ever iterating thing. You’re never done, it’s always in beta, you know, it’s always trying things and seeing what works and what works you can do more of and what doesn’t work you do less of and. But that’s a kind of a mindset as well, to have that, you know, that some things are constant and some things are always in movement.

[ 00:20:34 ]   

And I think that most people that feel bad is that they choose to try and control things that are always in movement. Since they can’t control that and it’s not a constant, they feel really bad about that because they feel not in control. So, you know, control what you can and the other things will just have to, you know.

[ 00:20:53 ]   

So that’s part of being part of the growth mindset is also being open for change because it is an ever changing thing. It’s an evolution. And I mean when the Internet struck, everything changed overnight and everything happened so much faster because everybody all over the place sees everything that everybody else is publishing and then they learn from that and then that just spins faster and faster and faster.

[ 00:21:17 ]   

So I think that the adaptability is really important. And I think that when it comes to the. You’re talking about the growth mindset and the whole sort of idea of adapting and pivoting and learning and growing and building. I think that one of the most important things is to learn anything, whatever it is, be it a language or a skill or a business, whatever it is.

[ 00:21:40 ]   

If to learn anything, you have to start by admitting that you suck or that you can’t do something right. I want to learn French. Okay? I don’t, I don’t know French, right? So I need to sort of admit that and open up to say, hey, I don’t know this. Can somebody please help me and be humble enough to accept help from people who know stuff.

[ 00:22:04 ]   

In business it could be finding mentors, building your network, actually speaking to your mentors network and say, hey, I need help with this, can you give me some pointers? It doesn’t mean that you have to listen to exactly what they say and do exactly what they tell you, but listen with an open mind and what feels like this is something I can learn from.

[ 00:22:25 ]   

Then you pick that up and you say, thank you very much, I really appreciate your advice. I’m going to try this now. And then you go and try it. No prestige. There’s, you know, you have to get prestige. You have to get rid of all of those things that hinder you because prestige and pride and all of that stops us from growing.

[ 00:22:43 ]   

So I think that’s really, really important.

[ 00:22:46 ]  Sponsor 

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[ 00:22:50 ]   Megan Porta

Yeah, and I think this can even apply to something that you are an expert in, right? Like if you are an expert in maybe food blogging, you still have to have that perspective of, yes, I can always learn, right?

It’s, it doesn’t just apply to your example of I don’t know anything about French, so I have to admit that I need to learn French. But I think people get hung up on this in our space. And just as entrepreneurs, like, I’m the expert in this, so I don’t have any more to learn sort of mindset where there’s always, always, like you said earlier, things are always evolving and changing.
 

You always have something to learn. I think it’s so. I respect people so much who can just stop and acknowledge that they’re never going to know it all and that they can learn at any given moment.

[ 00:23:56 ]  Donnie Lygonis 

I mean, the smartest people I know, and also success, if we measure it in the business success, are also some of the most curious people I know. And they’re always asking questions and they’re always reading and they’re always looking for new knowledge. And, you know, they’re always sort of, I’m not the smartest person in the room.

[ 00:24:14 ]   

What can I learn from this situation? Okay, this doesn’t work. What can I learn from this situation? Oh, here’s a new person. What can I learn from this person? You know, they’re always open to listen to a perspective and see if it can help them. And we were talking about the food bloggers.

[ 00:24:29 ]   

I mean, I work with some of the smartest researchers, some of them in the world as well. Right. And they might be, you know, the top of the crop, the smartest person in the world at that moment on a specific subject, but they still can’t sort of market their way out of a brown paper bag.

[ 00:24:46 ]   

They can’t communicate what they’re doing. They can’t speak to anybody apart from their closest peers, because nobody else understands what they’re talking about. So it’s also about, you know, this old thing that, well, who are you trying to reach? You have to find them where they are and then from there build the communication.

[ 00:25:06 ]   

You can’t start with you are. Because most people who know a lot of things, they communicate what they feel the world should hear. They’re not trying to convey what the world wants to listen to. You know, and those are two different things. I mean, what I want to sell or what somebody wants to buy isn’t the same thing.

[ 00:25:25 ]   

Whatever subject it is. In this case, it’s a food blogger. There might be somebody who has something super interesting to talk about or super interesting to say, or they know a lot about a subject. But the question is, yes, but who is it for? I mean, who is going, who do you want?

[ 00:25:39 ]   

Who should listen to this? Who needs to hear this? Or who would benefit from listening to this? Where are they? What triggers do they have? What are they listening for? Do they even know they should be listening to you? I mean, sometimes we’re so far ahead of the curve or we’re so expert in what we’re talking about that we’re way ahead of everybody else that we’re talking to.So nobody gets it anyway. And we get frustrated because they don’t get it. Yeah, don’t you see?

You know, but then I go sort of, yeah, well, take it easy. You’ve been studying this subject for 20 years. You’re expecting somebody who’s been listening to you for 20 seconds to get it. That doesn’t. Won’t work. You need to break it down so it works in 20 seconds. Not the 20 year thing.

[ 00:26:26 ]   

Right. So it’s so much about no matter what you do, it’s about communicating. It’s about human connection. It’s about building relations. It’s about, you know, and the whole. Yeah, it sounds. And it’s so easy to say, but it’s so hard to do.

[ 00:26:41 ]  Megan Porta 

I was just going to say that it seems so simple. I’ve missed the mark so many times on this where I have in my mind something I’ve rolled around in my head for years sometimes that I think, oh, everyone’s going to love this. They need it. And then I put it out there and nobody, nobody needs it or seems to want it.

[ 00:27:00 ]   

So then I have to back up and kind of reassess and do it all again. Like what, what do you guys actually need from me right now? That sort of thing. That you said like meet people where they’re at. But I think a lot of us miss the mark in that area. Do you find that too, that it’s.

[ 00:27:16 ]  Donnie Lygonis 

Oh, yeah, yeah. All the time. All the time. I mean it’s, I mean this is a classic thing. I mean, I, so when, when I, when I speak to like bloggers or companies or anything, it’s like, so, yeah, well, we’re, you know, we, we’re trying to sell this and I’ll say, yeah, but who do you want to buy?

[ 00:27:28 ]   

Who, who’s going to buy it? Who’s your target group? I said, well, we haven’t really thought about that. We have a thing that we.

[ 00:27:33 ]  Megan Porta 

Someone.

[ 00:27:34 ]  Donnie Lygonis 

Yeah, but if you try and sell everything to everyone, you won’t sell anything to anyone. So, you know, you need to narrow it down so you better. Usually you’re better off with being. And this goes for both bloggers and for business, laser focused. I mean, go for, go for a super, super narrow target group to start with because narrow will give you depth.

[ 00:27:56 ]   

You’ll get, you know, you’ll get some really, really, really hardcore followers that really get it, you know, and you start working with those and then you can sort of widen out and open up a bit and get some more people in. But you can’t go sort of wide everything for everyone because then nobody will sort of really, nobody will feel that it’s for them.

[ 00:28:13 ]   

So you need to be, you need to narrow it down in the beginning a lot. But I see this all the time when it comes to communication of mostly anything and people. I mean, I think the biggest, one of the biggest mistakes people do in general when it comes to social media and media is that they just start publishing stuff.

[ 00:28:30 ]   

And I go, and then I speak to them, I say, okay, well let’s back up and say, okay, who do you want to do what after hearing you say something? Okay, well then we can talk about a target group and we can talk about their need and then we can talk about the action they’re going to take when they’re going to try and fix that.

[ 00:28:49 ]   

Okay, cool. That’s number one. Where are they? In which channel are they? Do they listen to blogs? Do they watch YouTube? Do they watch television? Do they read magazines? Where are they, the people they are trying to reach? Then we can choose the channel and also the kind of, you know, packaging the vessel of your message in that channel to reach them in as good way as possible.

[ 00:29:16 ]   

You know, it’s so. Yeah, yeah. And again, that’s so easy for me to say, I know, but it’s, hey. The larger companies than anything else that charge a lot of money for that. So it’s obviously a hard thing.

[ 00:29:30 ]  Megan Porta 

Yeah. How important is community and connection, do you think? With all of this, I’ve just found that once I started networking with people on a new level, my entire business changed. Not only my business, but my mindset expanded and changed as well. Do you agree with that?

[ 00:29:49 ]  Donnie Lygonis 

Yeah, I think, I think we’ve heard it before. But, you know, the, the power of the network and your power is in your network. And if you, if you. This. Oh, I don’t even know where to start. But there is so much in this. I mean, I do this thing on LinkedIn every Thursday and I can just.

[ 00:30:07 ]   

I mean, on Every Thursday on LinkedIn I do like a post, which is my like super connector thread, and I just say to everyone, you know, post your need in the comments. And then you scroll the comments, you help people get what they need, and then you share the post so more people see it.

[ 00:30:21 ]   

And then, you know, and, and it’s like people ask for, hey, I’m looking for a job here, or I’m trying to find somebody who does this, or I’m trying to, you know, and there’s every week, even though there’s not a hundred comments, but every week there’s somebody who posts something and then you see the networking coming together and say, yeah, but you speak to this guy and you speak to this guy and you should go to this one over there.

[ 00:30:40 ]   

And there’s always somebody who gets a relevant connection to somebody else to help them do their thing. And again, step one and number one in networking is being clear on what you’re asking for. And also if you can, if you, depending on the environment you’re in, I mean, here at the university, in our sort of innovation community, we have this thing where we want people to lead with, how can I help you today?

[ 00:31:05 ]   

Because if everybody does not, we have an upward spiral of people trying to help each other instead of saying, what can you give me today? You know, and then it’s kind of, if it’s just people taking stuff you want to, in the end, you close down. But networking is key. Networking is key to getting feedback.

[ 00:31:21 ]   

Networking is key to spreading the word. It’s if you don’t like selling and you, if you’re uncomfortable with selling yourself and your product that other people sell you and your product because it’s always easier. So if you’re out in a networking event, you get a wingman or a wing woman to go with you and you pitch each other because it’s always easier to pitch your friend to somebody else than yourself.

[ 00:31:47 ]   

It’s like the simplest trick in the book. Two people. You go out with him or her and then say, okay, I’ll pitch you, you pitch me. And then you get, you know, you speak to this guy, he’s done, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And it feels, I’m not uncomfortable with that, but I can’t do the same.

[ 00:32:02 ]   

I can’t do the same with me because I feel uncomfortable with that. So the network will be your selling, your sales force if you do it in the right way.

[ 00:32:10 ]  Megan Porta 

If you are watching on YouTube, by the way, leave a comment and tell me which of these points that we’ve talked about that Donnie’s talked about resonates most with you. I just think all of these things are so important in building a sustainable business. And it’s often the things that get overlooked. Just embracing that mindset for growth and the resilience and the connections and the networking.

[ 00:32:34 ]   

Oh, and I have to comment on what you just said about the wingman thing. That is so true. How uncomfortable is it to go up to somebody you don’t know and just like, hey, I’m Megan. My podcast is really awesome. You should listen. I would be like, who is this girl? What is she like, why is she telling me?

[ 00:32:51 ]   

But if you have someone else doing it, it’s a no brainer. It’s just, it’s easy. I absolutely love that.

[ 00:32:57 ]  Donnie Lygonis 

And to add to that my best networking tips of all, especially for people who are awkward with networking, which most of us are, you know, what is that? You know, you go to a place, you have a glass of whatever and you’re standing in the corner and you feel really awkward. The best tip is actually to go up to somebody else and say, you know what?

[ 00:33:13 ]   

I think these things are so awkward. And I just feel. And the other person will say, oh, thank God, I feel exactly the same. And then you. And then you’re off, you know, and then you’re. And then you can complain together about how awkward you are and then suddenly you’re in a discussion and then it’s all okay.

[ 00:33:28 ]  Megan Porta 

It’s a great tip. Yep. You can kind of align. Be on the same page with the awkwardness.

[ 00:33:33 ]  Donnie Lygonis 

Yeah, that’s, you know, again, it’s admitting what you can do or you’re admitting what you feel uncomfortable with and that’s that. I mean, the whole growing, you know, we say growing pains like when we’re teenagers. Any growing is growing pains. It’s outside of the comfort zone. Any growing is uncomfortable. When you are comfortable, you are not changing.

[ 00:33:52 ]   

You know, growing is. It’s painful. And the more you grow, the more painful it is. And getting out of your comfort, when it feels a bit uncomfortable, it. A bit sort of. Oh, it’s, you know, then that’s. It’s a sign that something is happening. You’re actually pushing yourself. You mean you shouldn’t be stupid and push yourself over the edge, but you have to get to a point where you’re trying something that you cannot do.

[ 00:34:19 ]   

And then you, you know, and no, you won’t be able to do it the first day. Some things takes years to master, and that’s okay, but. And again, I’m doing all of these stupid analogies. I meet people and I say, oh, I wish I could play the guitar. I said, well, you know, how much have you practiced?

[ 00:34:37 ]   

And I don’t know, I just hardened. I wish I could play the guitar. I tell you what, we meet each other, like every six months. Tell what? Tomorrow, Step one. Tomorrow you’re going to go and buy a guitar. Can you do that? That’s not so hard. You can even order one on Amazon.

[ 00:34:50 ]   

Will be in your Amazon prime. You’ll have it tomorrow evening. Perfect. You got a guitar. The only thing you need to do is five minutes per day. It’s nothing. Five minutes per day. I mean, it’s like nothing out of your day. If you feel it’s important enough, I’ll meet you in six months.

[ 00:35:07 ]   

And you will have played guitar five minutes per day for six months. And I can promise you in six months, you’ll. I won’t say you’ll be, you know, but you will be able to do the first chords of summer of 69 or whatever, and you will be playing the guitar if you feel it’s important enough.

[ 00:35:25 ]   

But most people complain about stuff that they would love to do, but they’re not prepared to do the work to get there. If it’s important enough, you do the work to get there.

[ 00:35:35 ]  Megan Porta 

Yeah, it’s.

[ 00:35:35 ]  Donnie Lygonis 

I mean, it. It’s just the way. And it hurts. It’s painful. It’s ugh. And you have to sit there and your fingers hurt and you can’t take a chord. And I suck at playing guitar. Yes, you do, but admit it. And then just do it every single day. And soon you’ll go, hey, how did I learn this?

[ 00:35:52 ]   

I can do this now. Suddenly things start working, you know, and then like two months into it, you’re Going, hey, look, I can take a chord and it sounds not like somebody strangling the cat. It sounds like a song, you know, so.

[ 00:36:03 ]  Megan Porta 

Yeah, but like you said, most people resist that, I think. And why is that? Because it’s like if you really, really want something, if you really want to learn to play the guitar, you would make that plan and just say, okay, I’m going to buy my guitar tonight and I’m going to start tomorrow.

[ 00:36:19 ]   

Consistently showing up for my guitar lessons. But people, it’s almost like people just like complaining about it, like, oh, I’m never, that’s never going to happen someday. And they just fall into a habit of that versus just taking action.

[ 00:36:34 ]  Donnie Lygonis 

Yeah, of course. We have people who always are throwing themselves into new things and then they never complete anything because they’re always trying, you know, it’s. And they always say they always. I mean, the typical thing is like exercise after Christmas and people start doing too much too fast and it just becomes too overwhelming and then they quit because they burn out, because they don’t understand.

[ 00:36:56 ]   

It’s like, you know, big visions and baby steps. You know, you have to have big visions and big goals and big targets, but it is baby steps to get there. And you, you need to pace yourself. I mean, when you’re. I work as a fitness instructor and people are surprised on how little I ask them to do on their journey and they go, I’m only going to do this.

[ 00:37:15 ]   

Yeah, well, yes, you’re only going to do this, but we’re going to do it every day for another six months. And I can promise you in six months you’ll be in a whole different shape than you are today. You’re not going to do, you know, a million push ups and 50 miles of running because that will just kill you.

[ 00:37:30 ]   

It’s a stupid thing to do that. But, you know, the small incremental steps over of a compound time. Big visions and baby steps for any kind of change. And that’s the mindset you need to have. I’ll do something small today. Five minutes, whatever it is. Read a book, practice something. Read a business book, listen to a business podcast, listen to podcasts that I never heard before.

[ 00:37:52 ]   

Listen, watch. TikTok. How are the kids doing this? I don’t know how kids are doing. They, I mean, whatever it could be. And then as you’re doing things and you get feedback, you have to disconnect the feedback of what you’re doing with the feedback of who you are, because that’s not the same thing.

[ 00:38:11 ]   

But people take it personal. I mean, that’s what the problem with politics today is, that people have to stand for something. And when you criticize their standpoint, you criticize them as a p. As a person. No, I’m not criticizing Megan as a person. I’m criticizing what the point of view Megan had. That’s not Megan’s person.

[ 00:38:29 ]   

And the same thing with people have feedback on your business. It’s not personal. It’s the business that they’re having feedback on. And that we can change that. Super simple.

[ 00:38:38 ]  Megan Porta 

Right.

[ 00:38:39 ]  Donnie Lygonis 

You know, so we have to disconnect the whole sort of, you know, it’s not a reflection of you.

[ 00:38:45 ]  Megan Porta 

Right. People take things on as their identity. Like. Yeah, it’s. So they tie themselves so closely to certain things that, yeah, they get offended. Like, you just. You just dragged me through the mud. When. It’s not that at all, often times. And then my last question for you is just focusing on the wins.

It feels like you’re a very grateful person and you focus on the positive and you’re optimistic. Do you also take time to celebrate your wins, big and small, along the way? And how often do you do that?

[ 00:39:17 ]  Donnie Lygonis 

I mean, I’d say again, I mean, I’m definitely. I mean, I’m not a role model in that way. Or. I mean, I’m. I’m biased and. And dented. And I’m as. I’m a person as anybody else. But. But I do try and stop and, you know, stop and smell the roses kind of thing.

[ 00:39:33 ]   

And I can feel really happy by you know, just getting, I mean, and it sounds maybe it sounds, you know, way too, again, profound and like, very sort of vague, but just sometimes getting another day to try and do it all over again, but in a better way, and sort of stopping and saying, okay, well, I’m actually being given another day here.

[ 00:39:56 ]   

How am I going to do something different today that can affect somebody else in a positive way? Can I do something at least? You know, it’s. Can I do a tiny, tiny thing to make the world a bit better today? And if I manage to do that, then, you know, I can get super happy by I’ve helped somebody and they thanked me and I was like, wow, that was really cool. You know, it’s people who work with charity work, and I mean, they’re usually very, very happy people because they know that by giving they get so much back. And I think that it’s important to stop and say, look, and even if you’re building something, you’re building a business, whatever it is, to stop and just sort of usually what I do with the people I work with here, when I’m like, at the release party.

[ 00:40:44 ]   

There’s a tip at a release party, right? And they’re sort of super stressed and, oh, my God, there’s so much to do. And the balloons here and over there. And I say, well, okay, well, you know, let the caterers. And I take them aside and I walk over to a corner and I just stand here and take a deep breath and look at the room and just for 10 seconds, take in what you actually have achieved the last two years, because this is your doing and this is your moment, and just savor this moment because this is thanks to you and all of your effort. And just take it in, give yourself 10 seconds and say, I did this. I built this. And then you can go back to chaos again.

[ 00:41:25 ]  Megan Porta 

And hopefully your mindset’s a little bit different after that pause.

[ 00:41:29 ]  Donnie Lygonis 

And actually allowing yourself to have that is important, I think.

[ 00:41:33 ]  Megan Porta 

Yeah, yeah. The pause is the hard part. It’s the simple part. Just when you hear it like, oh, of course. Just take a pause and recognize what you’ve accomplished. But then actually doing it is kind of hard, especially when you’re caught up in that cycle of chaos. Right. Like, getting out of that hamster wheel seems so difficult sometimes.

[ 00:41:51 ]   

I so appreciate you, Donnie, in this perspective and your mindset and just your focus on everything, growth and networking and resilience and leaning into failure. And all of this is just so aligned with how I think as well. So thank you. We really appreciate everything you brought to the table today and for your time as well.Late at night in Sweden.

[ 00:42:16 ]  Donnie Lygonis 

Thank you for having me. I’m. I’m happy. I mean, and anyone, feel free to reach out. You can find me on LinkedIn. And, you know, I’m happy to. Happy to, whatever.

[ 00:42:24 ]  Megan Porta 

So I usually have my guests say, end with a favorite quote or words of inspiration. Do you have anything there?

[ 00:42:31 ]  Donnie Lygonis 

Quotes. I mean, there’s loads of quotes. We’ve talked about some of them. But. But I will say that one of my favorite things that I use myself is, you know, the magic of the word. Yet I haven’t gotten there yet. I haven’t finished yet. Which can be sort of a negative thing, you know, I’m going to do it soon.
 

I’m going to procrastination kind of thing, but in a positive way. You know, whenever it hasn’t worked, it just hasn’t worked yet in the way we thought, then we just have to reiterate, reset, and take a step back and okay, how can we make this work? How can we change it? How can we shift it? How can we change perspective? It’s just not working yet. So that’s my one of my favorite words yet.

[ 00:43:14 ]  Megan Porta 

I love it. So simple. Again, thank you for sharing that. We will put together a show notes page for you. So everything we’ve talked about today we’ll put inside of there. If you want to head to eatblogtalk.com/DonnieLygonis yeah, and check those out. So tell everyone where they can find you.You mentioned LinkedIn. Is that the best place?

[ 00:43:32 ]  Donnie Lygonis 

Yes, I’d say LinkedIn is the best place to find me.

[ 00:43:34 ]  Megan Porta 

Okay, everyone go say hi to Donnie. And again we appreciate you Donnie. Thank you for joining us and thank you for listening food bloggers. I will see you next time.

[ 00:43:46 ] Outro   

If you enjoyed this topic, you’ll also love the episode I recommend in the show notes. Click on the episode description to find the link.Thank you and I will see you next time.